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NBA Picks

Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers ‘under’ is the NBA Pick

Each day the LT Profits Sports Group seeks out a total that simply does not add up and therefore offers the most value that day. Here is their Total Value Play of the Day for Monday.

It seems like a relatively high posted total Monday night considering the last couple of meetings between the teams when the Toronto Raptors (37-22, 16-12 away) pay a visit to the Philadelphia 76ers (13-46, 8-20 home) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA at 7:05 ET in a game available on Comcast SportsNet - Philadelphia.

The posted total at Pinnacle Sports is 192 for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under’ set at -103.

Raptors on Way to Division Title
The Raptors are well on their way to their second straight Atlantic Division title has they have a huge 12-game lead over the second play Brooklyn Nets. Toronto is also the second seed in the Eastern Conference, and while it is true that the Raptors have been able to pad their record by feasting on teams from the weakest division in the NBA, they also have quite a few good wins including recently blowing out the top seeded Atlanta Hawks on the road.

At least that is the good news. The bad news is that the Raptors have suddenly lost five straight games since that big win in Atlanta, most recently losing to the team with the worst record in the NBA in the New York Knicks 103-98 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

On the other hand the 76ers are just one-half game from having the worst record in the league as that is their margin over the 12-46 Knicks, who they happen to share the weak Atlantic Division with. The Sixers have been the losing NBA picks in six of their past seven games.

How will 76ers Score?
The last two meetings between these teams this season produced 184 and 177 total points respectively, which makes this total tonight seem inflated considering Philadelphia does not figure to pull its weight here in the scoring department. Remember that those last two meetings were when Michael Carter Williams was still with the 76ers, but he was traded at the trading deadline and the Sixers have reached 100 points just once in the last nine games.

That occurred in a 119-108 loss at Miami on February 23rd, and the Philadelphia offense has been more abysmal than usual in the three games since that contest, averaging 83.7 points while failing to even reach 90 points, topping out at 89.

Besides trading away Carter-Williams, remember that Tony Wroten was lost for the season a while back, currently leaving the 76ers with just two players averaging double-digits in Robert Covington (13.2) and the veteran Jason Richardson (10.4), and the latter has played just five games since recently making his seasonal debut on February 20th.

Toronto Offense in Bit of a Slump
Another boon to this ‘under’ is that the Toronto offense seems to have gone into hiatus during the five-game losing streak. The Raptors have failed to reach 100 points in any of the five games during this current streak averaging just 90.4 points per game on a mere 40.4 percent shooting including a dismal 25.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Remember that this is a team still ranked fifth in the league in scoring with 104.3 points per game overall, but the Raptors are only 14th in field goal percentage at 45.2 percent and 17th in three-point shooting at 34.4 percent.

So will the Toronto offense finally get back on track here vs. an inferior opponent? Well, you may be surprised to learn that the 76ers have actually won five of their last seven home games and the main reason for that has been the Philadelphia defense allowing a measly 84.6 points per game in the five wins!

Kyle Lowry Out Again
Finally, Kyle Lowry will miss his second straight game tonight while the Raptors give him some rest after a recent slump. Speaking of slumps, DeMar DeRozan is also in one himself for Toronto as he is shooting just 33.7 percent over his last 12 games following an ugly 3-for-15 performance vs. the Knicks.

We expect another low scoring affair here just like the last two meetings, especially with Lowry not available for Toronto and Carter-William no longer in Philadelphia after they were two of the rare bright spots shooting wise those last two meetings, so go ‘under’ on Monday.